Facebook’s Parental Leave Policy Extended to 4 Months in Effort to be Family-Friendly

In an attempt to be more family-friendly, Facebook has announced plans to extend paid parental leave for all new parents to four months.

The announcement came via a post from Facebook's head of Human Resources, Lori Matloff Goler. "I am proud to announce today that we are extending our parental leave policy for full time employees to cover four months of paid baby leave for all new parents, no matter the gender or where in the world they live," she wrote.

Facebook's new policy applies to all global employees of the social media service, and was reportedly done because "it's the right thing to do," according to Goler. The company touches on the fact that "almost half of fathers" in the world find themselves nervous and/or worried about the lack-of-time they are spending with their children and spouses as a result of the ever-extending workweek.

The company's new policy will kick off on Jan. 1 of 2016, however, it's worth noting that all parents who either had a baby or adopted a child in 2015 will be eligible in Facebook's new policy.

"Taking parental leave is a very personal decision, but we want to be able to provide our people with the support and flexibility to take the time they need," she says.

According to a report from Time, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would be taking two months of paid parental leave from the company once his wife Priscilla Chan and he have their first child. He made the announcement back on Nov. 20, via his own Facebook page.

“I’ve decided to take 2 months of paternity leave when our daughter arrives,” he wrote.